Pale Rider: Zombies versus Dinosaurs Read Free Page A

only
ones out for blood.”
    I frowned, nodded and leaned back. I kept my
eyes locked on his to show him I understood his words. Tomorrow
afternoon we would start. With my crew assembled, I finished my
drink. Lucky for me, as it was last call.
    The night slipped into the morning and the
morning into day. Everyone sat on their dinosaur mounts, tense with
the task at hand. I had a triceratops while Avant had a
stegosaurus. No words were exchanged, which I felt was the correct
way to do things. Once we saw that flare bloom fire petals in the
sky, we would charge towards the center. The plan was to just sweep
through several times and then the t-rex would clean the
surrounding area. Quick, easy, and then beer all around.

CHAPTER TWO
Too Easy
     
     
     
    Avant was massaging his temples when the plan
was thunderously shattered by a panicked dinosaur. Clearing land
rarely went to plan, but it was rare that it went off course so
soon.
    The vegetation deeper in the forest was the
first sign of trouble. The commotion started with cracking trees as
a large animal thumped out of the nearby forest. As if being
saddled in a giant rodeo, the brontosaurus kicked and bucked with
its back legs. The beast kept jumping from left to right as if
something were riding it. Our simple plan gave way to my bellowing
commands between the bleating roar of the long-necked dinosaur.
    “Re-group point! Re-group point!” I yelled to
my crew, pointing down the fence line. This order would cause a lot
of noise, but a quiet operation was no longer an option. We also
had to continue the plan. Solomon was still preparing for our
sweep, though I couldn’t imagine a better crier than a loud, pained
dinosaur. Were there ants on its back? No. Those were zombies. The
brontosaurus must have been foolish to stop for vegetation or bed
down nearby.
    It took me a few moments of staring to
realize that I hadn’t been moving. Instead, I was transfixed on the
scene slowly coming up closer and closer to me. When I realized how
near the dinosaur was, I kicked my ride into action and got away.
The others had already left long ago. They needed little prompting
when a crazed dinosaur was involved.
    I followed the broken trail of bushes and
trees to where the others in my crew had gone. I stopped up near
the center of the group, who looked even more nervous than
before.
    “Did anyone see a flare?” I asked a little
more shrill than I wanted. A darting of eyes told me that we had
all forgot to keep an eye out for it during the dinosaur rampage.
“Let’s keep an eye out for it. Solomon is counting on us.”
    Had we missed the flare? Was Solomon being
slowly suffocated in a swarm of hungry blue zombies? Why had there
been a brontosaurus out here? Something wasn’t feeling right.
Something about the way the dinosaur panicked just didn’t feel
right. Clearing land gives you a sixth sense for an expired
situation, and this felt downright sour. With each passing
brainstorm, I grew more and more queasy. I almost missed the small
bloom of light, a little off from where I had been looking. I
realized I forgot to calibrate for the new location.
    “Alright. Time to work gentlemen.” I told the
group as I grasped the reigns.
    We kept pace together going through the brush
toward the source of the flare. As expected we saw crowds of blue
brain zombies trying to swarm a tree. Our crier almost appeared
bored. He made a show of yawning as if getting chased up a tree by
blues were an everyday occasion. Perhaps for him it was.
    The blue brains crunched and flew apart as
the dinosaurs ripped through. They had been taught to swing their
heads as they plowed a field, giving them a dual advantage. Not
only would blues find it harder to cling, but it would clear more
blues from the path. The group broke apart to complete another pass
through the pale flesh. I was surprised we hadn’t found more of the
blue brains. Maybe this crier survived by being soft spoken.
    “Solomon!” I yelled at the